Thieves smash van into Palo Alto camera shop, steal equipment

PALO ALTO, Calif. (KGO) -- Two burglars who smashed a van into the front of a popular camera store and stole thousands of dollars in equipment are now on the run.

The incident happened around 4:30 a.m. at Keeble and Shuchat Photography in Palo Alto.

Witnesses saw an older maroon minivan with dark tinted windows back into the store.

In less than five minutes, the thieves were gone heading west on California toward El Camino Real.

The store owner put in burglar-proof glass and roll-down gates after a burglary a few years back, but his store didn't stand a chance.

"I bought this thing (gate). I thought it would stop people, he said, you can't stop a car," said Terry Shuchat.

Police say a similar vehicle was used in an audio store burglary in Mountain View earlier this month and that the two burglaries could be related.